Atonement
by MD14
Summary: O/S - Movie night at Sam's. A case of extreme PMS for Andy means an... interesting night.


"Andy, you picked exactly three movies, all of which you like. Which is, fine, but uh, I'm really not in the mood for..." Sam reaches down for the closest DVD and flips it over. "'How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days'."

Andy is in his kitchen banging around with the cupboards and bowls, tearing open bags of popcorn and candy they picked up from the video store.

_"I have Netflix McNally," He'd told her, ever since she pulled him out into the snow for a walk down the block._

_"It's a dying business Sam, and it's been in the neighbourhood for ages. It's all a part of the movie night experience."_

So is the junk food, he guesses. But Andy knows he won't eat that crap. So she's cutting him up some pepper and cucumber, little ranch on the side. He said the other night he needed to lose a few pounds. He definitely didn't NEED too... all she was hearing was Regina Georges voice "I really want to lose three pounds."

She'd rolled her eyes at him, mentioned that he was such a girl, and continued to eat her little bowl of Mini Eggs.

"I got Fast Five!" She yells from the kitchen, plating his veggies, all cut up and centered around the dip like a mom would do. "You're the one who said pick whatever you want."

He grumbles, and she hears him take a seat on the couch. He really shouldn't have left it up to her. Normally she tries to be more considerate of something he'd like. She considered getting Argo but... well, she just wants trashy food, a trashy movie, and someone to cuddle.

So she left him to discover the last movie. The tear inducing drama, that would keep her up all night being a sap telling him she loves him every five seconds, Atonement.

He just had to pick his poison. She honestly thinks he'd enjoy Atonement. It's an epic love story, there's some war, someone wrongly accused of a crime, a lot of heartache...

But god knows they've suffered through enough of their own heartache in the last year. All she wants is a pick me up.

"Not too late to get something on Netflix." He grumbles when she hands him his plate of veggies.

"Not too late for me to go home, watch these by my lonesome." She says whistfully, like she's ready to grab all of her stuff and go. But Sam's feeling a little pathetic tonight, and she cut him up his own separate plate of veggies. How could he let her leave.

"Noooo..." He whines, taking Andy a little by surprise. "I'll be good."

He tugs at her sleeve, but she pulls it back, insisting there's more food to be had. Leaving him pouting on the couch munching on a carrot stick.

* * *

An hour later, they're thick into Atonement, Andy's already shed a few tears. Sam was wide awake when Robbie had Cecilia pressed up against the wall in the library. Man was he ever. Was stroking her ribs under her tank top, and that was fine. But Andy knew what was coming, and the suspense had her too tense to really give a crap.

Now they've reached D day and Sam's fighting to keep his eyes open. Not that she can see though, she's got her head on his chest, tears staining his shirt. When she feels his breathing deepen, when her head starts to go up and down, when his hand goes completely still on her back, she's upset with him. Probably a combination of the movie, her PMS, and just wanting to spend time with him, but yeah, colour Andy pissed.

She pulls away from him, sits up straight, and takes the blankets that they'd tossed across themselves with her. She wraps one around her shoulder, and curls up in the Lay-Z Boy alone. Cries alone. Throws the remaining gummy worms at Briony at the end of the movie.

She's blubbering like an idiot. The movie should really come with a warning: more heartbreaking than the Notebook, because _everyone_ is _miserable_.

She's trying to get her breathing back under control, watching the credits roll by, when Sam finally stirs. She watches his hand move looking for her blindly, and watches him flail to get upright when he fails to. He's eyes are squinted, he was in pretty deep, and he has to rub at them before they landed on Andy in the chair.

"Hey, what're you doing all the way over there?" He asks, knowing he's probably in trouble. It's dark without the movie playing, but he can make out gummy worms on the floor, and tear tracks on her cheeks.

The gummy worm throwing is kind of her thing (though it's not exclusive to gummy worms) while watching TV. It's more common when their watching the Leafs, so this must've been one sad movie, and she's PMS-ing, and he fell asle... oh shit.

"Andy, I'm sorry, I had a really long day, Frank had me in early-"

"S'okay." She mumbles, angry frown on her puffy face.

He knows she doesn't mean that. She's holding in the urge to yell at him for letting her watch that alone. Feel all of that alone. She's got a big thing about that, over feeling, watching SPCA commercials (the ones with Sarah McLachlan), alone, when she's PMS-ing.

"Wanna come back over here and tell me about the movie?" He asks, hoping she'll just crawl right into his lap, curl up, blabber on until she's as tired as he is.

But, she just snorts.

"Please, you've probably read the book."

She's not wrong.

"Yeah, but sometimes the movies are different..." He tries.

"Nope. Briony still ruins everybody's lives. Robbie and Cecilia never see each other again. He dies on that beach, she dies in the Tube." Andy says, voice faltering. And she's up like a bolt, and throws herself back on top of him. "They just wanted to be together." She wails into his shoulder.

She's definitely not usually like this on movie night. Now he's wishing he hadn't been so harsh to judge her other choices.

"Sweetheart, it's fiction. They never existed, and I bet if they did, some great cops would've figured out it wasn't Robbie long before he was shipped off." He whispered, holding her on top of him, trying to twist onto his side. Once he's got them both sideways, he holds her tight right up against him, whispering anything he can think of to ease the blow of the characters deaths.

But she's still ugly crying, unashamed. And it isn't until he gives up with words that he realizes she was talking right back.

"I love you, I love you, I love you." She chanted, beginning to kiss at his neck. He rubbed a hand up and down her back, listening to her.

"Hey, what's going on with you." He whispered right into her ear, trying to shift her to see her face. "You alright?"

She nods sadly, trying to still her lip but it keeps trembling. "I just don't want anything to happen to us. To you."

He frowns at her a little, and tucks her head under his chin.

"What do you think might happen? I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere." He says, tugging her even closer, entangling their legs.

He stayed with her like that for long time, before she got too uncomfortable to stay in that position. She pulled away, and twisted herself so she was sitting upright on the couch, and looked at the mess they'd made.

"Why do you let me buy gummy worms? This happens every time." She says, turning to look back at Sam, him still laying behind her.

"Because you insisted."

"Why do you let me pick the movies?"

"Because you hate the movies I like."

"But you hate the movies I like." She says, cocking her head a little. He just shrugged his shoulders, and ran a hand up and down her arm.

"I like it when you're happy." He says simply.

"Do I look happy to you?" She exclaims, laughing a little.

He gives her a big lazy smile too.

"No, but are you?" He asks, needing to know that she just had a minor episode, that this wasn't some kind of psychological break.

"You're here."

"I am."

"Then I'm happy."


End file.
